Is Pennsylvania an At-Fault or No-Fault State?
Who pays after a crash depends on the fault system your state uses.
- Fault system
- Choice
Every Pennsylvania policyholder picks full tort or limited tort. Limited tort keeps your right to recover out-of-pocket medical and other expenses but gives up damages for pain and suffering except where the injury meets an exception in the law; full tort keeps that right unrestricted. If you do not specially elect limited tort you are deemed to have chosen full tort.
- PIP minimum limit
- $5,000
Medical benefits are mandatory in Pennsylvania regardless of which tort option you pick.
What changed
July 1, 2025
Accident surcharge threshold raised to $2,250
Under 75 Pa.C.S. § 1799.3 a Pennsylvania auto insurer may not cancel, refuse to renew, surcharge, apply a rate penalty or assign driver record points when a policyholder's aggregate claim cost over three years stays under a threshold the Insurance Department sets. Notice 2025-01 raised that threshold from $2,100 to $2,250 effective July 1, 2025. Guides still quoting $2,100 or an older figure are out of date.
Pennsylvania Insurance Department Notice 2025-01, 55 Pa.B. 178